Test system for remotely testing switches within a telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

A system for centrally and remotely testing switches of cellular and conventional telecommunications network wherein a controller located at a remote location provides instructions to Remote Call Processor (RCP) to thereby prompt the RCPs to establish a communication link from the RCP through a switch to a destination device whereby audio from said destination device is communicated, by way of the switch and the RCP, to the controller in order to verify that the switch properly routed and billed of the call. The destination device may be a service provided by such network or it may be another RCP.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/146,606 filed Sep. 3, 1998 which is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates generally to a system for testing theoperation of a telecommunications network and more specifically to asystem for remotely testing one or more switches within atelecommunications network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Telecommunications networks can generally be divided into twocomponents, cellular networks and conventional land-line networks. Whilethe cellular networks support wireless telephone services and theland-line networks support conventional telephone service, the networksand services generally overlap in that a user of a wireless telephoneservice can place a phone call through the cellular network to theland-line network to thereby establish a telephone link with aconventional telephone, and conversely, a user of a conventionaltelephone service can place a phone call through the land-line networkto the cellular network to thereby establish a phone link with awireless telephone. Furthermore, in some instances, the cellular networkis comprised of communication links that may, at times, be consideredpart of the land-line network.

[0004] There are many cellular networks in place around the UnitedStates and the rest of the world. Generally, a cellular network isbounded by a geographic territory. For example, the AT&T cellularnetwork generally services the entire continental United States whilethe Cellular One cellular network generally services the east coast ofthe United States. A cellular network is generally comprised of multipleservice areas, each of which is subdivided into multiple cells. Eachcell has a base station for receiving and transmitting phone callsbetween a mobile phone and the cell, and the base stations are connectedto a switch normally located in a mobile telephone switching office(MTSO). The number of switches required for a service area variesdepending on the volume of calls experienced in the service area. Someservice areas have only one switch to which all the base stations withinthe service area are connected; some have multiple switches such thatthe base stations within the service area are divided between theswitches; and some even share a switch with other service areas. TheMTSO generally manages the multiple switches in the cellular network andmaintains a communications link between the cellular network and theland-line network.

[0005] Functionally, when a call is placed by a wireless phone locatedwithin a given cell of a service area in the cellular network, the cellbase station receives the phone call and forwards it to the service areaswitch where it is forwarded to the destination device. If thedestination device is another wireless phone located in another servicearea of the same cellular network, the service area switch forwards thephone call to the switch of the destination service area where it isforwarded to the bases station of the destination cell for transmissionto the destination wireless phone, thereby establishing a communicationlink between two wireless phones within the same cellular network. Ifthe destination device is a conventional phone, the MTSO directs thecall from the calling service area switch to a switch associated withthe land-line network where the call is connected to the conventionalphone. If the destination device is a wireless phone located in adifferent cellular network, the calling service area switch forwards thephone call through the land-line network to the destination cellularnetwork where it is directed through the switch of destination servicearea to the base station of the destination cell for transmission to thedestination phone, thereby establishing a communication link from thecalling wireless phone to the destination wireless phone by way of thecalling cellular network, the land-line network and the destinationcellular network.

[0006] One of skill in the art will understand that a phone callinitiated by a wireless phone may involve many different switches inmany different networks. Generally, the first switch accessed by thecaller is the “billing switch” responsible for tracking and recordingall the various charges associated with the phone call, includingenhanced services. Such charges might include basic charges, in-networkroaming charges, out-of-network roaming charges, land-line fees, longdistance fees or other cellular network fees as will be appreciated byone of skill in the art. A billing switch that improperly tracks feesassociated with a phone call or with any enhanced services provided bythe service provider, results in lost revenue to, or over billing by,the service provider. Therefore, it is critical to the service providerthat the billing switches consistently and accurately track and recordfees.

[0007] Generally, a user of a cellular phone will execute a subscriptionagreement with one or more service providers which allows the user toplace calls within the service providers cellular network. The usergenerally enters subscription agreements with service providers havingcellular networks covering the geographic area in which the usernormally makes phone calls. For purposes of this description, theservice providers with which the user has a subscription agreement willbe referred to as “home” service providers. The various serviceproviders have executed agreements whereby a subscriber to a serviceprovider can use the services of other service providers, subject to afee, and the “home” service provider will appropriately charge thesubscriber.

[0008] Every wireless phone contains an Electronic Serial Number (ESN)and a Numbered Assignment Modules (NAMs) which together indicate the“home” service providers to which the phone is associated (hereafter theESN and the NAM will be collectively referred to as the “NAM”). When awireless phone establishes a phone call, the associated billing switchrecognizes the NAM in order to determine whether the phone iscommunicating with a “home” or “non-home” service provider in order toproperly track and allocate fees. Initiating a call within the networkof a “home” service provider will be charged differently than initiatinga call within the network of a “non-home” service provider. Furthermore,calls initiated within “non-home” service providers will be chargeddifferently depending upon the specific agreement between the non-homeservice provider and the home service provider.

[0009] Each billing switch tracks and records the fees associated with aphone call through use of a “billing table” that is preprogrammed intothe switch by the service provider. The billing table recognizes chargesassociated with each call including any charges for enhanced services(i.e. call waiting) subscribed to by a user. Generally, the switcheswill be reprogrammed with updated billing tables at various timesincluding whenever a new service area is added or removed from thecellular network; whenever a subscriber is added or deleted from theservice provider; whenever the cellular network fees are changed;whenever the agreement between the cellular network and other networkschanges. Furthermore, the hardware and or software of a switch may beperiodically upgraded (e.g., a base station may be added to theswitches' service area or the switch may be reprogrammed with “upgraded”software for bug fixes or feature enhancements). In addition, the switchundergoes maintenance or routing changes that change or effect theinteraction between the switches. The upgrades and maintenance sometimesresult in errors associated with billing and network operations causingthe switch to malfunction as it processes calls. Whenever the switch isreprogrammed, upgraded, or undergoes maintenance, it is critical thatthe service provider have an efficient means for verifying that thevarious switches function properly and correctly track and record fees.

[0010] When a call is placed, the numerous switches handling the callare responsible for properly routing and billing the call. A switch thatis installed, reprogrammed, upgraded, or maintained improperly mayresult in improperly routed and/or billed calls and thus lost revenue tothe service provider. Because switches are being installed in newnetworks and because switches in existing networks are continuouslyreprogrammed, upgraded and/or maintained, a system for testing theproper operation of the numerous switches within a telecommunicationsnetwork, and thus the proper routing and billing of calls to and fromsuch network, is necessary to maintain an efficient network. Presently,there are two such types of systems available to service providers, onemade by Rotodata and the other made by Comarco.

[0011] The Comarco system includes a testing device that places awireless call to a service area of a cellular network where such call isrouted through the switch associated with the service area to adestination device whereby a communication link is established betweenthe testing device and the destination device. The destination devicemay be a mobile or land-line phone offering a pre-recorded audio messagethat is communicated over the established communications link to theuser of the testing device where proper operation of the switch may beconfirmed. The testing device may also be equipped with multiple phonessuch that the testing device may establish a communication link from afirst one of said phones to a second one of said phones therebyestablishing the testing device as the destination device. The testingdevice must be located “in the field” (e.g., geographically within theservice area) so as to be capable of wireless communication with theservice area.

[0012] One shortfall of the Comarco system is that the testing device isdesigned to be locally controlled in that setting the parameters of thetesting device and/or initiating the test requires a technician to belocated “in the field” with the testing device. This limitation alsorequires that a field technician travel to the various service areas ofthe cellular network in order to test the numerous switches within thenetwork. Another shortfall of the Comarco System is that the testingdevice does not have the capability to record audio received from thedestination device thereby requiring that a technician be located in thefield with the testing device during testing in order for the technicianto hear the quality of the audio received at the test device. Yetanother shortfall of the Comarco system is that the presence of thetechnician in the field prevents the technician from accessing thebilling records of the call, which are normally located in a centraloffice, and therefore from verifying proper billing simultaneously withthe verification of the call. Still yet another shortfall of the Comarcosystem is that it cannot complete calls from one testing device to asecond testing device. A further shortfall of the Comarco system is thatit does not enable the user to verify the audio of the placed call inboth directions without a technician being present at each end of thecall. Yet a further shortfall of the Comarco system is that it cannotinteractively control or measure the testing being performed by thetesting device.

[0013] The Rotodata system includes a testing device that places awireless call to a service area of a cellular network where such call isrouted through the switch associated with the service area to adestination device. Typically, the destination device is a pre-recordedaudio message that is communicated to the user of the testing device toconfirm proper operation of the switch. Unlike the Comarco system, theRotodata system has remote control feature that permits operation ofmultiple testing devices from a remote location.

[0014] One shortfall of the Rotodata system is that the remotecapability does not permit audio from the testing device to becommunicated to the remote control location thereby forcing the user torely on non-audio information in the call verification process. Thislimitation prevents the user from remotely verifying whether the audiowas received, or the quality of the audio received, at either thetesting device or the remote control location and prevents the user fromremotely testing services such as 911 emergency service, voice mail,call forwarding, call waiting, no answer transfer and messaging, and anyother service that can be verified through an interactive audio process.Accessing the audio requires the user to be in local control of thetesting device which requires the technician to be located in the fieldwith the testing device. Another shortfall of the Rotodata system isthat the remote capability does not permit audio from the remote controllocation to be communicated to the testing device or the destinationdevice thereby preventing the user from audio interaction with either ofthe devices. This limitation also prevents the user from testingservices such as voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting, no answertransfer and messaging or any other service that can be verified throughan interactive audio process. Yet another shortfall of the Rotodatasystem is that the remote control is implemented over an unsecured POTSline. Still yet another shortfall of the Rotodata system is that thesystem does not allow for individual call control of each remote unit.For example, the remote units will accept a 24 hour series of commandsto run without master control such that the user will lose 24 hours oftest if a test error occurs.

[0015] Therefore, an object of the invention is a system for remotelytesting a switch of a telecommunications network where audio received atthe testing device is communicated to the remote control locationwhereby the user can verify the proper completion of the call, the audioquality, and the billing records.

[0016] Another object of the invention is a system for remotely testinga switch of a telecommunication network where audio from the remotecontrol location is communicated to the testing device.

[0017] Yet another object of the invention is a system for remotelytesting a switch of a telecommunication network where audio from theremote control location is communicated through the testing device tothe destination device.

[0018] Still yet another object of the invention is a system forremotely testing a switch of a telecommunications network where suchsystem is capable of centralized remote management of multiple testingdevices and centralized remote testing of multiple switches.

[0019] A further object of the invention is to provide a system forremotely testing a switch of a telecommunications network where acommunication link is established from a first testing device through aswitch to a second testing device where the user at a remote controllocation has access to audio received at the first testing device andthe second testing device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020]FIG. 1 is an illustration of the system of the present invention.

[0021]FIG. 2 is a diagram of the controller and the Remote CallProcessor of the present invention.

[0022]FIG. 3 is a diagram of the system of the present invention.

[0023] FIGS. 4-13 are flow diagrams of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

[0024] The present invention is a system for centrally and remotelytesting switches of cellular and conventional telecommunications networkwherein a controller located at a remote location establishes acommunication link with a Remote Call Processor (RCP) and providesinstructions to the RCP to thereby prompt the RCP to establish acommunication link from the RCP through a switch to a destination devicewhereby audio from said destination device is communicated, by way ofthe switch and the RCP, to the controller in order to verify that theswitch properly routed and billed the call. The destination device maybe a service provided by such network or it may be another RCP.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025]FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 1, the system of the present invention is asystem for testing a switch 40 of a telecommunications network 50. In apreferred embodiment, the telecommunications network 50 is a cellularnetwork comprised of multiple service areas 52 and 54. The system of thepresent invention includes one or more remote call processors (RCPs) 20,30 and a controller 10. The RCPs 20, 30 include phone means forestablishing a communication link from the RCP 20 through the callingarea switch 40 to a destination device such that audio from thedestination device is communicated to the RCP 20. The destination devicemay be a prerecorded voice mail box established by the service provideror, as further described below, another RCP 30, or any other device thatassists in the verification of the operation of the switch 40.

[0026] The controller 10 is for remotely controlling operation of theRCP 20. The controller includes remote communication means forestablishing a communication link between the controller 10 and the RCP20 such that audio received at the RCP 20 will be communicated to thecontroller 10. The controller 10 also includes means for instructing theRCP 20 to initiate a phone call to the destination device. Functionally,an operator of the system prompts the controller 10 to establish acommunication link between the controller 10 and the RCP 20 andinstructs the RCP 20 to initiate a phone call to a selected destinationdevice. In response to such instructions, the RCP 20 initiates a phonecall to the destination device and establishes a communication link fromthe RCP 20 through the calling area switch 40 to the destination device(not shown). In this way, audio from the destination device iscommunicated through the calling area switch 40 and the RCP 20 to thecontroller 10. The operator of the system can then evaluate the audioreceived at the controller 10 to determine if the calling area switch 40properly connected the RCP 20 to the destination device. The operatormay further determine if the calling area switch properly switched thecall and billed for the call by reviewing the translation tables andbilling records of the switch, which preferably would be accessible atthe location of the controller 10.

[0027] In one embodiment, the destination device may be a voice mailservice, a call waiting service, a call forwarding service, a no answertransfer service, a messaging service, a voice recognition service orany other of the types of services provided in such a network. In such acase, the destination device may prompt the user, through a pre-recordedvoice, to select from a number of options through use of the telephonekeypad. The pre-recorded voice would be forwarded to the RCP 20, andthus to the controller 10, for a response. The controller includes meansfor instructing the RCP 20 to respond to such queries. In this way, theoperator may verify the proper operation of the switch 40 by verifyingthat the call was established from the RCP 20 to the correct destinationdevice and that the 2-way audio transmission communicated from the RCP20 through the switch 40 to the destination device was enabled. It willbe appreciated by one of skill in the art that the destination devicemay be any type of device sufficient to verify that the communicationlink through switch 40 was properly established. Furthermore, thedestination device may be located in another service area, anothercellular network or the PSTN, as further described below. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the destination device may be a second orthird wireless phone means located in the RCP 20, whereby upon beingprompted by the controller 10, the RCP 20 establishes a communicationlink from a first phone means located in the RCP 20, through the callingarea switch 40, to the second or third phone means located in the RCP20. In another embodiment of the invention, the destination device maybe a conventional phone means located in the RCP 20, whereby upon beingprompted by the controller 10, the RCP 20 establishes a communicationlink from the wireless phone means located in the RCP 20, through thecalling area switch 40, to a conventional phone means located in the RCP20.

[0028] In another embodiment of the present invention, and withcontinued reference to FIG. 1, the destination device is a second RCP 30that is in wireless communication with either the first service area 52or a second service area 54 as shown. In this embodiment, the userprompts the controller to establish a communication link with RCP 20 andRCP 30. The controller then instructs the RCP 20 to initiate a phonecall to RCP 30 and instructs RCP 30 to expect a phone call. In responseto such instructions, the RCP 20 attempts to establish a communicationlink through calling area switch 40 and calling area switch 42 to RCP30. If successful, the RCP 30 sends data to the controller indicatingthe successful completion of the call at which time the user may verifythat the call was properly billed by referencing the billing records. IfRCP 30 does not receive the call within a predetermined period of time,RCP 30 will send data to the controller indicating that the call has notbeen received, at which point the user may determine that one or more ofthe switches 40 and 42 did not properly route the call.

[0029] A successful call will establish a communication link, resemblinga communication loop, from the controller 10, through RCP 20, callingarea switch 40, calling area switch 42, and RCP 30 to the controller 10.As shown in FIG. 1, and as will be appreciated by one of skill in theart, the communication link between the controller 10 and RCPs 20 and 30may be comprised of the PSTN 60. Also, the communication link betweencalling area switch 40 and calling area switch 42 may be comprised ofleased lines that at other times may be considered part of the PSTN.

[0030] In the communication loop established with a successful call, thecommunication link between RCP 20 and RCP 30 is generally a conventionalwireless telephone link capable of passing audio in either direction.The communication links 22 and 32 between the controller 10 and the RCPs20 and 30, respectively, will be further described below. Generally,however, these communication links may be such that they either passone-way audio or two-way audio depending upon the specific designchosen. Furthermore, the system may have two modes of operation, anon-audio mode and an audio mode. In the non-audio mode, non-audiocontrol and status information may be passed between the controller andeach of the RCPs. In this mode, audio is not used for call verification.Such control and status information may be any type of remote controland status information known in the art. In the non-audio mode, thecontroller will not receive or communicate audio.

[0031] In the audio mode, in addition to control and status informationbeing passed between the controller and each of the RCPs, audio is alsopassed between the controller 10 and the RCPs 20 and 30. For theembodiment where communication links 22 and 32 are one-way audio, whenthe system is in the audio mode, audio received at RCP 20 iscommunicated to the controller over communication link 22 and audiogenerated at the controller 10 is communicated to RCP 30 overcommunication link 32. In this mode, audio generated at the controllerwill be communicated to RCP 30 over communication link 32; audio fromRCP 30 will be communicated to RCP 20 through calling area switches 42and 40; and audio from RCP 20 will be communicated to the controller 10over communication link 22, thereby creating a one-way audio loop thatbegins and ends at the controller 10. While in audio mode, the operatorcan verify that audio is adequately passing from RCP 30 through thecalling area switches to RCP 20 by communicating an audio signal fromcontroller 10 over communication link 32 to RCP 30 and verifying thatsuch signal is thereafter received at controller 10 over communicationlink 22.

[0032] In the preferred embodiment, the audio signal would be generatedby the operator speaking into a microphone provided with the controller10, or through a prerecorded text or speech message which may include atext to speech function as will be appreciated by one of skill in theart, the details of which will be further discussed below, and the audiosignal would be received by a speaker provided with the controller 10,thereby enabling the operator to verify the call by simply speaking intoa microphone, or initiating the pre-recorded text or speech message, andlistening to the speaker. In this embodiment, where the communicationlinks 22 and 32 are such that only one-way audio is permitted, thecontroller 10 would be provided with an electronic switch controlled bysoftware residing in the Controller 10, for reversing the path of theaudio loop. By reversing the switch, audio from RCP 30 is communicatedto the controller 10 over communication link 32 and audio from thecontroller is communicated to RCP 20 over communication link 22. In thisembodiment, by reversing the switch, the audio signal generated at thecontroller 10 would be communicated to RCP 20 over communication link 22and thereafter received at controller 10 over communication link 32. Inthis way, the user may quickly verify the proper operation of the switch40 and the quality of the audio passing between the RCPs.

[0033] Communications links 22 and 32 and the means for communicatingover such links may be any known means for remotely communicatingbetween two devices over a telecommunications network. In oneembodiment, the controller and the RCP 20 or 30 include modems and thecommunication links 22 and 32 are conventional phone lines or wirelesscommunication links. In another embodiment, the communications links 22and 32 may be comprised of the Internet and the controller 10 and theRCP 20 or 30 include voice-over-Internet means for communicating audioover the Internet. In the preferred embodiment, communications links 22and 32 are an internal corporate intranet comprised of an Ethernetcommunication link where the controller 10 and the RCP 20 or 30 includean Ethernet card for passing data over an Intranet via an Ethernetcommunication link and include voice-over-Ethernet means for sendingaudio over the Ethernet Intranet communication link.

[0034]FIG. 2 is a diagram of the various embodiments of the controllerand the RCP of the system of the present invention. Referring to FIG.2a, the controller 100 and the RCP 110 are shown. The controller 100includes remote communication means for establishing a communicationlink between the controller 100 and the RCP 110. The remotecommunication means may be comprised of a conventional computer 102 witha modem 104 for establishing a communication link between the controller100 and the RCP 110 over a conventional phone line normally associatedwith the PSTN 105 such that the controller 100 can communicate controlinstructions to the RCP 110 and such that audio can be passed betweenthe RCP 110 and the controller 100. The modem 104 and the computer 102may be any computer or modem known to one of skill in the art to enablesuch communication between the controller 100 and the RCP 110.

[0035] The controller 100 includes means for instructing the RCP 110which essentially comprises the modem 104 and conventional software forgenerating and sending control instructions to the controller 110. Suchsoftware for generating such control instructions may be anyconventional or known type of software used for remote communicationsbetween devices, which are generally known in the art. In the preferredembodiment, such software is comprised of a combination of Microsoft“visual basic” and Microsoft “C” software that are compiled to run on astandard Pentium based personal computer. Functionally, a user of thesystem would prompt the controller 100 to instruct the RCP 110 toinitiate a call, whereby the controller 100 would establish acommunication link with the RCP 110 and communicate control data overthe communication link to the RCP 110.

[0036] The controller 100 may also include and A/D converter 106 fordigitizing the analog voice received at the controller 100, whereaftersuch digitized voice may be stored in memory 108. Such memory 108 may beany memory known that is sufficient to store digital audio data.

[0037] With continued reference to FIG. 2a, the RCP 20 includes a phonemeans 112, a processor 114, a modem 116, and memory 118. The phone means112 may be a conventional phone or in the preferred embodiment the phonemeans would be a conventional cellular phone. The cellular phone may becapable of communicating in one or more of the types of wirelesscommunication systems such as TDMA, CDMA, NMT, AMPS or GSM. The modem116 enables the communication between the controller 100 and the RCP 110and may be any type of modem available and generally known by one ofskill in the art. In the preferred embodiment the processor 114 is aPentium based processor, and the memory 118 may be of the type generallyknown to those skilled in the art that is sufficient to store digitalaudio data. The modem 116 receives and transmits commands and audiosignals between the controller 100 and the processor 114. The processor114 commands the phone 112 to place and receive calls and interrogatesthe phone 112 for basic information about the call which may includeinformation related to the network performance of a particular call, andthe duration of the call, etc. All information is then processed andsent back to the controller 100 for further interpretation and displayto the user.

[0038]FIG. 2b shows another embodiment of the controller 100 and the RCP110 of the system of the present invention. In this embodiment, thecommunication link between the controller 100 and the RCP 110 is that ofa private corporate intranet comprised of an Ethernet communication linkover the Internet. In this embodiment the controller 100 and the RCP 110each have an Ethernet Card 130. The RCP 110 further comprises means fordigitizing audio received from a destination device. Such means mayinclude an A/D and a D/A converter 111 for digitizing the analog audioreceived at the RCP 110 from the destination device and for analogingthe digital audio received at the RCP 110 from the controller 100, ifnecessary. In this embodiment audio and control signals passed betweenthe controller 100 and the RCP 110 are in a digital format and the audioreceived at the RCP 110 is readily stored in the memory 118 of the RCP110 or the memory of the controller 100.

[0039] In the preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2c, the phone means112 located in the RCP 110 comprises three wireless phones 120 and oneor more conventional phones 122. In this embodiment, test calls may beplaced between phones of different RCPs, as described earlier, orbetween phones of the same RCP 110. Additionally, calls may be placed byany one of the phones 112 to any other one of the phones. As a singlecall is place and received within the phone means 112, the audio andcontrol associated with that call will be communicated over the Ethernetmedium to the controller 100.

[0040] The RCP 110 may also include means for measuring the quality ofthe audio received at the RCP from the destination device. Such meanswould include any known means of measuring the signal strength, thesignal to noise ratio and the clarity of the audio received.

[0041]FIG. 3 shows an illustration of the system of the presentinvention. Referring to FIG. 3, the system of the present invention asapplied to various scenarios encountered in a broad network is shown. Asshown therein, for broadest testing capability, an RCP is needed foreach switch in the network, and in the event that a single switch coversmultiple service areas, an RCP is needed for each service area. It willbe appreciated by one of skill in the art that the system of the presentinvention enables testing of switches of multiple networks form acentralized remote location. As shown in FIG. 3, controller 200 providescentral control of a broad number of RCPs (210, 220, 230, 240, 250 and260) thereby enabling fast efficient testing of multiple switchesthroughout various cellular and land-line networks. Tests may beperformed from any RCP to any destination device which includes testsfrom any RCP to any other RCP. In the preferred embodiment the systemwill have a script testing feature for testing a test call created bythe user in order to ensure that the test call was created properly.

[0042] FIGS. 4-13 are flow charts illustrating the general functions ofthe software that resides in the controller 110. FIG. 4 illustrates thevarious mode options available to a user of the system and FIGS. 5-13illustrate the flow diagrams of each of the individual modes. As statedabove, the controller 110 in the preferred embodiment is comprised of astandard personal computer running the Microsoft Windows NT operatingsystem. The controller functionality includes a methodology for managingcalls (placing and receiving calls and sending and returning audio) inremote areas using one or more RCPs. The basic modes of the controllerfunctionality are as follows: administration mode, login mode,buildingscripts mode, Run Mode, scheduled mode, results mode,interactive mode, maintenance mode, help mode and service step mode.

[0043] Administration mode includes a process of allocating user namesand selecting passwords. By way of the main user or administrator, userswill be assigned and passwords determined. Through a tieredauthorization system each user will be assigned an authorization levelproviding varying access to controller functionality. These accesslevels are identified as level one, two, and three.

[0044] Login mode provides entry into the system by requesting apassword from the user. It also may demand that the user, for furthersecurity, change his password after every three entries into the system.

[0045] The Build scripts mode allows for the building of test calls onthe controller by way of the application specific software providedthereby offering the user an implicit method of creating most types ofcalls that can be presently made by wireless and landline subscriberstoday. These test calls are built by listing each of presently 12commands in the order required to place a call as needed. These commandsare further enhanced by additional user entries to select phones andmobile numbers to be used, selection of audio direction and RCP to beused, decision to record audio and for how long, whether or not toanswer the terminating mobile, and others. As a part of this mode, thetest calls can be tested for accuracy by selecting a call test functionthat will verify the proper coding of the new test call. Additionally,key words and functions within a test call can be modified automaticallythrough a string search and replace command.

[0046] In the run mode, the test calls built in the build scripts modeare executed. In the run mode, each of the commands or test steps in thelist are executed in sequence thereby allowing the test call to bemanaged by the appropriate RCP/s. In the scheduled mode, the test callsare executed according to a predetermined schedule. In either mode thetest calls are performed identically. However, responses to some of thestimulus from the wireless network may be responded to differentlybetween the two different modes. In run mode an error in placing a callis responded to by stopping the call execution and asking for userintervention. In scheduled mode the same error is noted and the verynext test call is executed and the process continues. In scheduled modeadditional structure is added to allow the user to place a time delaybetween each test call, eliminate predetermined phone numbers from beingdialed, determine the numbers of times an erred call must be retriedupon completion of the first full list completed, and stop the list ofcalls from being executed prematurely.

[0047] At the completion of all executed test calls the results of alltest steps executed whether erred or not are stored in the controller'smemory. The controller, in order to determine the performance of eachcall, parses the results. This performance rating is coded and storedwith the results within the controller's memory. This storage includesall one way and two way audio messages received by the controller fromthe selected RCPs. These results are stored in a standard format so thatany standard PC can read or further analyze them.

[0048] In the results mode, the user can display, analyze and manipulatethe results of the test calls. In the interactive mode, the user canactivate and use the feature allowing audio to be sent from thecontroller to the RCPs.

[0049] In system information mode the user is provided information aboutkey aspect of the operating system status such as; Software and Hardwarerevision levels, display resolution, time and date. In the maintenancemode, the user may copy stored test call lists and result files to otherareas in memory.

[0050] In the configure RCP mode the controller provides a means ofconfiguring each RCP in the system and the inherent devices within eachRCP. Here the RCP can be named, the cellular phones are configured fortheir new mobile numbers (NAMs), the cellular phones ESN can be read andthe landline number can be inserted. RCPs can be added or deleted inthis mode and the associated IP addresses for each RCP can be programmedinto the RCP.

[0051] Service step mode provides the user an opportunity to createprogram steps to insert digits and delay between digits into a phone ina RCP. These can be created and named, to be drawn from the standardlist of program steps provided in the build scripts mode.

[0052] While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosedin detail, the invention is not to be limited thereby, but only by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for remotely testing the properfunctioning of a switch in a telecommunications network comprising thesteps of: sending a control signal from a controller located at a remoteuser location, which is accessible to said telecommunications network,to a remote call processor (RCP) having at least one telephone, saidremote call processor (RCP) located in a service area of saidtelecommunications network; receiving said control signal in said remotecall processor (RCP); establishing a first communications link includingsaid controller and said remote call processor (RCP); processing saidcontrol signal in said remote call processor (RCP) wherein said controlsignal includes instructions for establishing a test telephone call fromsaid remote call processor (RCP) through a calling area switch locatedin said service area to a destination telecommunications device;establishing said test telephone call from said remote call processor(RCP) through said calling area switch to said destinationtelecommunications device; receiving in said remote call processor(RCP), telecommunications signals related to said test telephone callwherein said telecommunications signals include audio signals; andtesting by said controller said telecommunications signals related tosaid test telephone call to verify proper operation of said calling areaswitch.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of testing by saidcontroller said telecommunications signals related to said testtelephone call includes measuring said audio signals for audio quality.3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing a firstcommunications link including said controller and said remote callprocessor (RCP) is established via the Internet.
 4. The method of claim1 wherein the step of establishing a first communications link includingsaid controller and said remote call processor (RCP) is establishedthrough a wireless portion of said telecommunications network.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the step of establishing said test telephonecall from said remote call processor (RCP) through said calling areaswitch to said destination telecommunications device is establishedthrough a wireless portion of said network.
 6. The method of claim 1further comprising the steps of: querying said controller with queriesgenerated by said destination telecommunications device which are sentthrough said calling area switch and said remote call processor (RCP),and receiving responses to said queries from said controller via saidremote call processor (RCP) and said calling area switch.
 7. The methodof claim 1 wherein a further step of interrogating of said at least onetelephone located in said remote call processor (RCP) providesinformation regarding a call history for matching to billing records ortranslation records for said destination telecommunications device. 8.The method of claim 6 wherein the step of querying and receivingresponses to said queries verifies a complete transmission of at least aportion of an audio portion of said audio signals in at least onedirection.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of querying andreceiving responses to said queries verifies proper operation of avoicemail box.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein said firstcommunications link including said remote call processor (RCP) and saidcontroller is a secure link, and said test telephone call between saidremote call processor (RCP) and said destination telecommunicationsdevice is a secure telephone call.
 11. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid destination telecommunications device is a voicemail box.
 12. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said destination telecommunications device isa second remote call processor.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein saidcontroller instructs said remote call processor (RCP) to establish saidtest call using said second remote call processor as said destinationtelecommunications device wherein if said second remote call processordoes not receive said test call within a predetermined period of time,said second remote call processor will contact said controllerindicating that said test call has not been received at said secondremote call processor.
 14. The method of claim 6 , wherein the steps ofquerying and receiving responses to said queries, further include thestep of verifying, using said audio signals, the proper operation of afunction selected from the group consisting of call forwarding, callwaiting, no answer transfer, voice recognition service, and messagingservice.
 15. A remote controller system for remotely testing at leastone calling area switch of a calling area in a telecommunicationsnetwork, said controller system comprising: a controller locatedremotely from said at least one calling area switch of said callingarea, said controller being capable of generating, sending, receivingand processing audio signals or telecommunications data signals; a buildscript mode application executed by said controller which builds testcalls having at least said audio signals to test proper operation ofsaid calling area switch; said build scripts mode application furtherincluding first commands for selecting a remote call processor (RCP),having at least one telephone, to place said test calls in said callingarea through said calling area switch and second commands for recordingsaid audio signals which are present in said test calls; a run modeapplication executed by said controller for executing said firstcommands and said at least second commands; and a results modeapplication executed by said controller to process, display, and storein a memory accessible to said controller, a result from said testcalls.
 16. The remote controller system of claim 15 further comprising aschedule mode application executed by said controller to execute saidtest calls on a predetermined schedule.
 17. The remote controller systemof claim 15 further comprising a configure remote call processor (RCP)mode application executed by said controller which may configure said atleast one remote call processor (RCP) in said telecommunications system.18. A telecommunications data processing system for testing theoperations of switches which serve a calling area of atelecommunications network, comprising: a controller accessible to saidtelecommunications network with a computer processor for at leastprocessing telecommunications data; a storage medium accessible to thecontroller for storing and retrieving said telecommunications data forprocessing in said controller; and a telecommunications unit serving aparticular calling area and controlled by said controller via acommunications link and configured to send and receive saidtelecommunications data to and from a destination telecommunicationdevice through a switch serving a calling area upon prompting by saidcontroller.
 19. The telecommunications data processing system of claim18 wherein said controller is a central server; and saidtelecommunications unit is a remote module.
 20. The telecommunicationsdata processing system of claim 18 wherein said controller directs callsaccording to call placement schedules.
 21. The telecommunications dataprocessing system of claim 18 wherein said controller directs saidtelecommunications unit to place test calls.
 22. The telecommunicationsdata processing system of claim 21 wherein said controller uses saidtest calls for producing an automated call detail recording.
 23. Thetelecommunications data processing system of claim 22 wherein a comparemodule automatically validates said automated call detail recordingagainst said test calls placed.
 24. The telecommunications dataprocessing system of claim 18 wherein said controller processes signalsregarding omitted or duplicated calls.
 25. The telecommunications dataprocessing system of claim 18 wherein said telecommunications network isan Internet protocol network.
 26. The telecommunications data processingsystem of claim 18 wherein said telecommunications network includes anEthernet connection.
 27. The telecommunications data processing systemof claim 23 wherein said controller includes said compare module. 28.The telecommunications data processing system of claim 18 wherein saidcontroller produces billing verification data by processing saidtelecommunications data.
 29. The telecommunications data processingsystem of claim 20 wherein said controller produces said call placementschedules.
 30. The telecommunications data processing system of claim 18wherein said controller is a hub.
 31. The telecommunications dataprocessing system of claim 21 wherein said controller programs said testcalls, schedules said test calls, verifies said test calls and tabulatesresults of said telecommunications data.